Historical Rosters Database
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Roster ID 5426This is a summary. Contact the Archives for additional biographical information.
| First Name: | Richard |
| Middle Name: | Evelyn |
| Last Name: | Byrd |
| Suffix: | |
| Affiliation: | Class of 1908 |
| Biography & Genealogy: | Richard E. Byrd, Jr. (b. Winchester, VA, October 25, 1888; d. Boston, MA, March 11, 1957). Medal of Honor recipient. Admiral Richard E. Byrd, aviator, polar explorer, and distinguished naval officer, attended VMI for two academic years (1904-05 & 1905-06). He subsequently enrolled at the U. S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1912. Biographical Resources: Numerous detailed biographical resources are available on the web; use your favorite search engine to locate them. VMI Record: Richard Byrd entered VMI on September 1, 1904, at the age of 15 years 10 months. While enrolled he took courses in mathematics, english, history, latin, drawing, and physics. His class ranking for his fourth class (freshman) year was 12 out of 104 students; his third class (sophomore) year 16 out of 76. While at VMI he played class team (club) football and participated in gymnastics. His grandfather, William Byrd, graduated from VMI in 1849. Photos: The image at right shows Byrd in his VMI uniform in 1906; additional images are located in our online photographs database, accessed through the menu on the Archives homepage. |
